In an effort to become more veteran friendly, Colorado State University in Fort Collins announced today plans to join the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program.
Glen Vance, who helps coordinates veterans’ benefits at the school, says the move is driven by changes to the Post 9/11 GI Bill that reduce tuition for out-of-state students.
“This program [will] primarily help the dependents that veterans have transferred their Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefit to,” he says. “The dependents want to come to Colorado State, but they’re not residents of the state.”
Every year thousands of veterans who qualify for the Post 9/11 GI bill transfer their benefits to their children, who use it to pay for college tuition. Starting August 1, if these dependents go out of their home state, they’ll no longer see the complete cost of tuition covered by the VA at many public universities.
Vance stresses that the program will apply only to undergraduate out-of-state students attending CSU with complete Post 9/11 GI bill benefits. Right now that amounts to about 30 students.
CSU joins other public institutions like the University of Colorado and the University of Northern Colorado, which already belong to the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program.
